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Comment by sgift | Hacker News Reader

> However the psychiatric/pharmaceutical establishment still assumes biological causes even though they have no real proof. The mind is a metaphysical concept which no one understands, and yet those who stand to profit upon still want to make unsubstantiated assumptions.

Yeah, sure. And next you tell me that only in the hands of some supreme being we can find help. This attitude is one of the reasons that people with mental conditions have to suffer. "It's not a real diagnose. They just do it for <'reason' of the day>". Thanks, but no thanks.

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Just to entertain your strawman, here is an old zen tale:

>When Bodidharma, the legendary founder of Zen, came to China, a disciple came to him and said "I have no peace of mind. Please pacify my mind." And Bodhidharma said "Bring out your mind here before me and I'll pacify it." "Well," he said, "when I look for it, I can't find it." So Bodhidharma said "There, it's pacified."

Yeah, sure. Let people suffer, at least they can suffer with the knowledge that the 'spiritual' people like wu-ikkyu approve of it.

Mental suffering exists. I'm just suggesting that stigmatization and drugging might not be the best way to deal with it

Stigmatization is certainly not the best way, quite the opposite. But my point is that "it's not a real sickness, just get over it" or "it's not a medical condition" are some of the prime examples that lead to stigmatization of mental illness.

Don't listen to anyone who tells you "just get over it" or acts like mental issues are not formidable, they are indeed talking down to you. That is not at all what I meant.

Being labeled by a psychiatrist as mentally ill is also stigmatizing though, and it often leads to civil rights being taken away from the individual. The fact that they can take away your rights without objective evidence is my concern.

When I'm not on medication I'm prone to manic/psychotic episodes and usually begin to hear voices. Maybe drugging isn't the best solution, but for me it's the only one that lets me live a normal life.

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